Dear Graham, 23 Months

Dear Graham,
If I really wanted to appropriately capture your 23rd month, I would actually begin this letter with "Dear Use-Your-Words-Graham" as I think we likely said that to you more during your 23rd month than we said your name alone.  Yes, this marked the month that we arrived at the tricky stage where whining is so much easier for you to speak and so much harder on your mommy and daddy to hear. But, our persistence in banging our heads against the walls reminding you to use your words seemed to start paying off as the month progressed and you began to realize you could get what you wanted much faster by using those dreaded things we adults call "words."

In addition to telling you to use your words, I often would tell you that "babies cry, but big boys use words" and then would ask you if you were a baby or a big boy. You always would smile and say "big boy," but now any time we see a baby or mention a baby, the first thing you say is "cry." This may present a challenge if we ever decide to make you a big brother.

During your 23rd month your daddy and I quite possibly lost our minds and decided to take our first true family vacation independent of extended family, although we did work some family time in at the end of our trip. This "vacation" involved being gone for eight nights, sleeping in four different locations, driving for 12 hours and flying for four hours. Yes, I plead insanity and would ask you with your newfound words to kindly say "beach vacation" if your daddy and I ever contemplate something like this again.

All kidding aside, we had an amazing time. We flew into Nashville, TN, where we picked up our rental car and then headed to see mommy's best friend Krista and her husband Griff in Asheville, NC. We spent a night with them, in which we somehow crammed dinner out, a baseball game, a neighborhood walk, your first rendevous with lightening bugs and lots of time looking at their chickens. Funny, I think the chickens are the only thing you remember today,  because when I talk to Krista on the phone, you say "chickens."

From there we headed out to Charlotte for three nights and four days. We wanted to explore the city and get to know a bit more about it. By the time we arrived in Charlotte, you pretty much hadn't napped for two days straight, because apparently you're the only person in the world that doesn't get drowsy when riding in a car. So all of these drives that we conveniently planned during your naps had no impact on you actually taking a nap. This made you such a joy to be around that your daddy kindly nicknamed you the angry midget.
 

Once we got you back on a somewhat normal sleeping schedule, you were awesome. We swam in the pool, explored neighborhoods and yummy restaurants , played at local parks and checked out a children's museum that was spectacular.
 

The museum was divided like a city would be, with a bank, a fire truck, a vet, a post office, etc. You were enjoying all of it, and then we found the trains. And boy, you did not want to leave those trains. So much so that we eventually had to carry you out of it kicking and screaming because you didn't want to leave. Yes, we were those people.

After three nights in Charlotte, we stopped for a night again in Asheville before heading back to Tennessee. We went to a local brewery that had outdoor seating and you entertained yourself by throwing rocks into a puddle. Over and over, you'd find a rock, pick it up and throw it down. It was one of those fascinating times that I see you do something and I wonder just how you even knew to do that.

Following a quick night in Asheville we were on the road again (fun!) to Mursfreesboro, TN to see your Papa and Nana and Uncle Sean and Sam. Papa and Nana were nice enough to volunteer to watch you while your daddy and I went to night one of the CMA Music Fest concert. It was so much fun that we forgot to take pictures. (That actually sums up much of our time in Nashville.)

The next day we headed to Nashville to stay in a hotel for the rest of the CMA Music Fest. We had a babysitter watch you on Friday night and your Uncle Sean and Sam kindly agreed to wake up with you on Saturday morning. I don't quite think they anticipated that being around 5:15, but they kept your word and took you to the park across the street. After mommy and daddy got a few more hours of sleep, we took you to the same park, where they had a train and an airplane. Yes, you were in heaven.

Following naps (for all of us!) we went back to the park for an afternoon concert series they were hosting. We stumbled upon a kids' tent that had lots of toys to entertain you while the music entertained your daddy.

This was until you saw the booth handing out balloons. And you, of course, wanted one. But, that wanting one did not include wanting it tied to your wrist, stroller or having mommy or daddy hold any part of the string. And so you learned an important life lesson.

Listen to your mommy and daddy.

Love,
Mommy 

Dear Graham, 22 Months

Dear Graham,

Every night when we say prayers together before I put you down to sleep I thank God for the joy that you bring to our lives. This month, I added to it a prayer for those times that aren’t as joyful too. Yes, during the last month you have decided you have an opinion. And you usually voice that opinion with a “no,” even if you don’t know what it means or what’s being asked or if you just won the lottery. Because of this new trait, I have placed a hold on several library books that talk about parenting for toddlers. Hopefully they get in soon. 

But with that opinion of yours has come a whole new world of discovery. I can share with you all kinds of things from trees to flowers to bugs to sports and here’s the kicker: you actually remember what I shared with you the next day. Or the next week. It’s exciting to see how your little brain has expanded to include the ability to recall more and more. It also means I can no longer let you do something “just one time” because you’ll know and want to do it a thousand more times.

This recall ability has also impacted your memorization of songs, the alphabet, books and numbers. You complete the last word of many of the pages of your books and you can count to 15, but still skipping the numbers 6 and 7 just to get to 8 a bit faster. You love singing and music and when I ask you if you want to sing a song you’ll say yes, but then when I start to sing a song that apparently isn’t the one you want, you quickly say “no.” And I never pick the right song to sing first. So our little conversation typically goes like this:

Me: “Twinkle, twinkle?”

You: “No.”

Me: “Old MacDonald had a farm?”

You: “No.”

Me, “Row, row, row your boat?”

You: “No.”

Me: “B-I-N-G-O?”

You: “No.”

Me: “Itsy, bitsy spider?”

You: “No.”

Me: “Wheels on the bus?"

You: “No.”

Me: (Starting to wonder how many kids songs are left in the universe) “Where is thumbkin?”

You: “YES!”

Except you say it in this way that’s like “Duh, mom! Of course I want Where is thumbkin, why didn’t you know that and we could have been saved from the last 5 minutes of conversation.” But the next time when you want to sing and I start with Where is thumbkin that’s not the song you want, so the above conservation ensues again.

We traveled to Florida again during your 22^nd month to celebrate your Uncle Troy’s college graduation from a school that’s not quite as good as Florida State. Fortunately though, mommy’s best friend from growing up lives in the same town as the aforementioned school and kindly volunteered for us to stay with her and to watch you during the ceremony. She has two little boys and you had so much fun joining right in to play with them. Aside from a few times that you wondered where your mommy had gone, you were great and loved playing. In fact, when we left the next day and flew back to Houston, you would say Noah and Asher’s names and then say “bye-bye.” 

You now comprehend that your daddy flies airplanes and so every airplane you see you say “daddy.” You also point to the pilots in your airport book (which is one of your favorites) and say daddy. During your 22^nd month you also started to understand the concept of “on.” As in I want to get “on” the airplane or “on” the bus or “on” [insertanythingthatmoveshere]. So, when we drive to school in the morning and see a bus, you say “on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on.” So I say, “Do you want to get on the bus, Graham?” And you say “yeah.” Then you do it again.

This was cute for about the first 1,000 times. But when we’re stuck in traffic on a 10 lane road surrounded by things you want to get “on,” let’s just say it gets a bit repetitive.

You continue to be such a boy through and through. You love your cars, trains, bugs, sports of any kind on TV (which is fascinating to me), any type of roughhousing and being put up on daddy’s shoulders.

I love seeing you on your daddy’s shoulders the most…my two favorite people holding onto one another. 

Love,

Mommy

Dear Graham, 21 Months

Dear Graham,
Your 21 month continued much like the string of months before it, reminding me again how much I am enjoying you at this age.

You are smart and sweet and so, so studious; learning from all that is around you. At the risk of sounding too much like a doting mommy, I'll also tell you that you are stubborn, impatient at times and hate being away from me for long any periods of time. To help with this, we have been working on getting you to try to use the words you know or to learn the new words to replace the "uhh?" sound you say so frequently or the whining that seemed to rear its ugly head this month. But don't worry, even whining, we think you're cute (we just try not to let you know it).

I want to pause for a moment and go back in time to a year ago when we took you for your first picture in the blue bonnets.

Aw, aren't you so cute?

Now, let's look at a picture of you this year in the blue bonnets.

(crickets...crickets...) 

Oh, wait. There are no pictures of you in blue bonnets. That's because when we attempted to take them, you preferred to do this.

Or this:

Or even this and this:

Here's perhaps the best one that actually involves blue bonnets. Clearly, you were really happy about sitting with flowers. 

But, you were really happy when I finally gave up and left you alone to run all around. Such a boy.

Also during your 21st month you and I flew to Florida for a fast trip for Easter weekend. Your daddy had to work and surprisingly there were open seats on flights that allowed us to get there and back. You were the best baby ever during those two flights. Apparently the Target dollar spot knows what they are doing when it comes to entertaining kids. For around $5, I found all kinds of great airplane toys for you, but your absolute favorite were the Sesame Street stickers. You love all things Sesame Street, and most of all Elmo, so you loved naming all of the characters, peeling the stickers and then moving them all around.

While in Florida, you managed some pool time with your Uncle Troy:

Some park time with grandma, grandpa,  Uncle Troy and Auntie Shan:

Reading time with your G-Ma:

 And, of course, an Easter basket too:

Not bad for being on the ground about 52 hours.

Another big milestone during your 21st month was your first real haircut. You woke up from your nap one Sunday looking like Medussa. Let me just tell you that's not a good look. Especially if you are a boy. Your hair had clearly grown beyond the ability of your dad and me to cut it, so off to the hair salon we went.

Fortunately for you (actually, fortunately for me and your daddy as you'll have no recollection of this), we found a place that specializes in cutting kids' hair. Frankly, with so much going on around you, I don't even think you were truly aware of what was going on. You didn't cry, aside from when we made you leave the train table in the waiting area. Overall, it was a positive experience and  your hair is no longer a place for food to hide or bugs to make nests. I'm kidding. (I think.)

During the last month you have started to understand the concept of cleaning up. My favorite example of this is after dinner when you help me to pick up the peas that fell on the ground and throw them into the garbage can. You see, you adore peas but I despise them because somehow you manage to only get 1 out of every 596 peas into your mouth. The remaining find their way onto the floor. So this new exercise not only saves me the time from sweeping peas, it also takes you significant time to pick up 595 peas while I clean the kitchen.

Another favorite recent story comes from your nighttime routine. You love to "brush" your teeth by yourself, which always creates a little bit of a battle between you and me. (It would probably be in your best interest to learn now that I'm not going to give up on hygiene issues.)  I was trying to explain to you that we needed to brush your back teeth. So, you proceeded to take your toothbrush out of your mouth and attempt to brush your back.

And at that I could just smile, and thank God again for the many joys you bring to our lives.

Love,
Mommy

Dear Graham, 20 Months

Dear Graham,
Your daddy says it's getting too confusing to spout off your age in months and then require people to do the math to figure out you're 1 and a half. I say there's no way I'm ready for you to be that grown up and that people can use a little math lesson in their day-to-day lives.

So perhaps the biggest 20 month milestone is that we finally turned your car seat around to face forward. You kind of got the short end of the stick when it came to this whole car seat thing...about a month before you were set to transition to facing forward at a year the American Academy of Pediatrics issued guidance to keep toddlers facing backwards until 2 years old (or 24 months for all you mathematicians). We decided that since you didn't know any different and since you tolerated fairly well riding backwards, we'd keep you that way for as long as you could. But when your little legs started having to be bent during the entire car ride, we decided to move you to face forward.

And boy do you love it.

Speaking of love, I know I mentioned last month how much you love being outside. That has only intensified as we pretty much can't put you down when arriving home from anywhere or you want to run the opposite direction. For some reason you don't stop even when I use my best "I mean it" mommy voice...apparently I need to practice that a bit. Instead you stop, turn around, flash a huge, dimple-laden smile and turn back around and keep walking.

Because we don't want for you to get hit by a car, we attempt to spend the majority of time outdoors in the backyard. Which you seem to equally enjoy, but it comes without the added stress for mommy and daddy.

You love reading and now will repeat whatever the last word is on each page back to us. You haven't quite mastered putting many words together, unless it's signing "eat" "more" "please", at which you are an old pro.

I previously told you of your ability to count to three. Well you surprised us in the car one day and counted to 10. Kind of. You see you skipped 6 and 7 and went straight to 8. We thought it was a cute accident but then realized you do that every time you could to 10, regardless of how much coaxing we attempt. It is awfully cute to hear you say 8 for the numbers 6, 7 and 8.

During the last month you decided one day that after daddy got out of the shower you wanted to get in the shower. I totally didn't think this experience would go so well, but I'm learning to let you experience things on your own rather than attempt to prejudge a situation. You couldn't have proved me more wrong: you loved the shower.  I thought you'd be annoyed by the water in your face or by the constant stream of water, but instead you were fascinated and cried when I took you out. 

Your grandma and Auntie Shan came for a visit during your 20th month and you didn't quite know what to think at first. You quickly warmed up to grandma, although you were a little hot and cold with your Auntie Shan. Your attitude didn't set them back: they loved spending time with you.

 

Speaking of hot and cold, you are so fun to watch when introduced to a new situation. Instead of charging full speed ahead, you like to take a few minutes to study your surroundings before making any rash decisions. You are always very curious, but choose to make your own assessments before jumping right in.

 
This quality of thinking before you act is one I hope will grow with you...it is always better to think about your decisions and be deliberate in making them. Just one of many life lessons that you have ahead of you, buddy.

Love,
Mommy

Dear Graham, 19 months

Dear Graham,

I’ve told several people that you are in my favorite stage yet and it’s so true. While all stages are magical and wonderful in their own way, right now you can communicate what you want (and clearly don’t want) but you don’t yet know how to talk back. This communication stuff is a glorious, glorious thing.

One of your favorite things to do is to be outside and you will say “side” and then grab my or your daddy’s hand and lead us to the door. Wagon rides are also a favorite, but we’ve learned not to say the word “wagon” until we are walking out the door to it as you clearly don’t have the patience for mom and dad to get their shoes on once you’ve heard the word wagon. You also love to push your toy lawnmower down the sidewalk…one day we walked the entire cul de sac and then you got upset when we couldn’t keep going further. 

 

You love to roughhouse, especially with your daddy. You’ll grab our hands (see a common theme here?) and pull us to hallway where you try to tackle us or push us over. I know it sounds like a version of the WWF going on inside our house, but instead it involves a lot of laughter and tickling.

I haven’t talked about your sleep in a while (because I clearly know not to say anything positive about it in the event of being jinxed), but there’s really nothing positive to say, so here goes. You love waking up early. And during your 19^th month early meant anywhere from 1-2 hours before the sun comes up. Fed up after one particularly early morning, I went to Amazon to purchase the Good Nite Lite. While it’s not the magical wand that I hoped it would be in terms of getting you to sleep in later, it has caused you to be aware that when the moon is on, it’s time to sleep and when the sun is on, it means good morning. When we ask you what the moon or sun mean, you reply “night, night” or “morning” just as clear as can be. When saying good night to either mommy or daddy, you then say “buh-bye” as you know we are leaving for the night. I still love your sweet cuddles and know that they will someday be rare, so I try to implant that experience as clearly as I can for my brain to forever remember.

You now know most of your shapes and point them out to me when we are reading or playing with your shape sorter. Speaking of reading, you like to get every book that you own out and then sit on our laps as you flip through one and then move on to the next. Anything with animals continues to be your preference as you make the animal sound while we flip through the books. 

During your 19th month we celebrated Valentine's Day and you loved playing with all of the valentines you got from school, which totally proved your mom (who thought they were a complete waste of time at a year old) wrong. We finally had to throw the bag that they came in away because it ripped beyond repair after so many times of you taking your valentines out and putting them back in. Apparently I need to buy you a deck of cards and a paper bag and you'd be good to go for hours. 

 

We also often play music for you off of the Toddler Tunes from our TV and you have become quite the little dancer. You twirl around or bend your knees or sway side to side, depending on the beat and your mood. And normally your daddy or I are right there next to you, doing the same thing and encouraging you as you go.

You completed your transition into the next class at school during your 19^th month and you’ve done so well. It normally takes you a few days to acclimate…you like to study any situation before you decide how you’re going to approach it and new classes are no different. But once you’re comfortable with your surroundings, you’re good to go. This new class features art every day and more structured time at centers and with themes. I always feel like you advance so quickly in the first few weeks and months of starting a new class, and this time is no different.

One of my favorite experiences last month came during a routine night of getting you ready for bed. We do the same thing every night as part of your bedtime sequence and you were brushing your teeth while your dad and I were with you in the bathroom. Your daddy leaned over and gave me a hug and patted me on the back. After observing me, you then reached up to me, gave me a hug and your little hand deliberately tapped me on the back. Just like daddy. 

Love,

Mommy